The counterfeit whisky is similar to 50 bottles of Johnnie Walker found in Hackney, East London, last November, although a fake neck label which wrongly had the word ‘distilleries' instead of ‘distillers' had been removed from the new batch.

An FSA spokesman said: "Drinking whisky contaminated with methanol could cause methanol poisoning, which has symptoms including severe stomach pain, drowsiness, dizziness and blurred vision leading to blindness.

"Methanol should not be present at the levels found in the fake Johnnie Walker whisky and could cause serious harm to anyone drinking it.

"If someone suspects they have drunk counterfeit whisky in the past 24 hours, they should consult a doctor."

The fake bottles also have writing in Spanish on the rear label, a fake lot code L04P24878342 and have no "E mark" on the base between the words 700ml and 73mm.

Officials are unclear whether any fake Highland Pride Whisky has been produced.

Any fakes were likely to have labels which read 1L and 40% vol instead of the genuine product's 1 litre and 43% Vol and a wrong barcode reading 5011311221171.

The FSA spokesman added: "It is something that is

causing concern.

"We don't know the extent of the problem at the moment."

Wokingham District Council's trading standards department has also issued a warning about the whisky, although a spokeswoman said they had received no reports of anyone buying it or being poisoned.

Anyone who believes they had a bottle of either dodgy drink can take it to the council's public protection team at Shute End.